[NEohioPAL]Berko review: They're Playing Our Song (Actors Summit)

[Roy Berko]

‘They’re Playing Our Song’ misses mark at Actors
Summit

Roy Berko

(Member, American Theatre Critics Association)

--THE TIMES NEWSPAPERS--

Lorain County Times--Westlaker Times--Lakewood News
Times--Olmsted-Fairview Times	


‘THEY’RE PLAYING OUR SONG,’ now on stage at Actor’s
Summit, is Neil Simon’s thinly veiled story of the
relationship between the show’s musical writer, Marvin
Hamlish and its lyricist, Carol Bayer Sager.  As he
usually does, Simon exaggerates situations and creates
wonderfully pointed lines.  No one writes better comic
relational arguments than Simon.  Add this to
Hamlisch’s schmaltzy music and Sager’s sentimental
lyrics and you have a perfect combination for a nice
escapist musical.

Hamlish and Sager had a conflicting personal
relationship while producing many excellent pieces of
music.  In the musical version of a their lives,
composer Vernon deals with his angst by speaking into
a tape recorder, while lyricist Sonia handles hers by
becoming an enabler/analyst to her former lover, the
unseen Leon.  Vernon and Sonia’s attempts to compose
songs and get a grip on their personal relationship
are constantly interrupted by her devotion to Leon and
by each of their own overblown egos.   In spite of all
the problems, Vernon finds himself smitten by Sonia's
odd personality and charmed by her penchant to save
money by wearing discarded theatrical costumes.  After
break-ups and reconciliations, the pair make a guarded
truce.  And, as in all good fairy tales and escapist
musicals, they live happily ever after.  (In real
life...not so!)

Every director makes decisions when planning the
staging of a play.  Sometimes those decisions are
right on, other times they are questionable.  Actors’
Summit’s Mary Jo Alexander decided, for some
unexplicable reason, to change the basic premise which
usually adds in making ‘THEY’RE PLAYING OUR SONG’
delightful.  She decided to make the normal cast of 8
performers into a duet.  

Usually, there are the main characters, Vernon and
Sonia Walsk and their inner voices.  Both Vernon and
Sonia hear from these voices in the throes of
creativity.  Vernon hears harmonies from his three
"boys," and Sonia hears a range of emotions from her
three "girls."  These voices, usually pop up at
inappropriate times to add mirth to the goings on. 
Without these voices the show loses much of its
texture and puts the total weight on the shoulders of
the two remaining performers.  Unfortunately for
Actors’ Summit, neither of the cast members is capable
of handling the show on their own.

Shani Ferry is very pretty and has nice stage
presence, but lacks both the vocal abilities and
acting depth to carry off the complex role of Sonia. 
She stays on the surface and never quite convinces
that she is both air-headed and grounded.   Her voice
fails in the high notes and she often sings words
rather than meanings of the lyrics.  Donnie Long
(Vernon) fares  better as he has nice vocal abilities.
 But, as with Ferry, he doesn’t have the acting depth
to make the character into a real person.  The duo
also lack chemistry between them.  Their kisses are
like a brother and sister politely greeting each other
and their bodies never contact with any believability.


Pianist Michael Flohr does well, but there were
several times when fingering errors were noticeable.  
MaryJo Alexander’s costume designs and executions are
excellent.

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT:  Actors Summit’s ‘THEY’RE PLAYING
OUR SONG’ is a less than stellar production.   

For tickets to the production, which runs through
September 25 , call 330-342-0800 or go on-line to
www.actorssummit.org.



Roy Berko's web page can be found at www.royberko.info.  His theatre and dance reviews appear on NeOHIOpal, an on-line source.   To subscribe to this free service via the World Wide Web, visit http://lists.fredsternfeld.com/mailman/listinfo/neohiopal.


		
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